I Have a Almost 15 Month Year Old Daughter....

I agree that maybe she should have more of a varied diet but a little pot belly is totally normal at this age. Kids really don't start losing their baby fat or their little buddha bellies until they're 3. It's really so easy to feed kids fresh and healthy so here's some ideas:
Breakfast: Oatmeal (great idea!) mixed with applesauce. Homemade pancakes/waffles that you can freeze. The beauty of homemade is is that you can add healthy things like banana, pumpkin, or whole wheat to the mix.

snacks: Diced banana, graham crackers, cereal bars, cheese, and yogurt. I mostly buy Greek yogurt because it's super high in protein. Trader Joes is an excellent place to get snacks! Most of it is organic, low sugar, and it's usually cheaper than the grocery brands. My son loves their cereal bars and they're half the price of the Nutri grain ones. Homemade (healthy) muffins. My son loves banana bran muffins that I keep in the freezer and just take out for a snack. For snacks I try to offer fruit and healthy carbs.

Lunch: Quesadillas (I do refried beans and cheese and then cut into little bits for self feeding), pasta with diced bits of veggies (mine loves broccoli), diced tofu, diced chicken. I tried to stay away from frozen and processed foods for the most part. A lot times, I serve our leftover dinners from the night before for lunch and he loves it.

Dinner: He eats what we eat:) I just take out the meat or whatever else we're having and dice it small for him. I think the biggest mistake we make is thinking that kids won't eat what we eat...big mistake! He'll eat curry, stir fry, salmon, pasta, chicken and just about anything. I try to avoid fruit at dinner and sometimes lunch because then he just wants that. Sometimes if he's having an off night or what we're having is too spicy I give him a veggie burger. I just heat it up and dice it up into small pieces for him.

I know it's hard being a single mom who works full time (been there!) but with a little planning you can feed her really healthy! Take a little time on the weekend to cook and freeze a few things, that's a huge time saver for me.

Good luck and I hope this helps. ~H.

Oatmeal is great - it is a whole grain. I would also add some unsweetened applesauce and a touch of cinnamon for flavor and to make it healthier!

Whatever veggies she will eat. Sweet potatoes are healthy and better for you (her) than white potatoes. Frozen veggies are easy to microwave or steam - or steam in the microwave (let them cool, of course). Get them plain, not the 'with butter sauce' kind. My son loves frozen peas, or peas and carrots. He eats them right from the package, frozen! Easy-peasy!

ANY fresh (not canned) fruits: bananas, blueberries, strawberries, small slices of apple (may need to be peeled), mango, kiwi, oranges, peaches, etc.

All toddlers have little "pot bellies". I only know this b/c we were flipping through the "What to Expect Toddler Years" the other night and there was a section on it!

She's old enough to eat a variety of foods, so try feeding her cut-up versions of whatever you are eating.
- Pasta with sauces
- Carrots and peas (easy to eat and they're canned/frozen)
- soft cheeses
- cut-up pancakes/waffles
- sliced turkey or chicken
- scrambled eggs
- yogurt
- fruits (not in syrup)

I know that you work and are a single mother, but she will learn how to eat from you, so do what you can to eat together and eat healthy! Rotisserie chickens are relatively inexpensive and you can buy one and portion it into 3 or 4 meals throughout the week. Add it to pasta for a balanced meal, sandwiches, stir-fry...

J. - You have good suggestions already. I would stress that you are wasting money by buying pre-packaged food, or foods marketed for babies & toddlers. She will be much less picky as she gets older, and much more healthy, if you both eat real food. That means fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains (rather than processed white flour ones with a lot of sugar in them), and nuts & legumes (I have 4 girls, and they love black beans and garbanzo beans the most).

Here's a picture of some good ideas, even though it's for a school lunch, you can still benefit from it:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=36007&id=107847...

You just need to make the food soft enough to chew, and usually diced up into little chunks. A round belly at this age is just what you're looking for, as well as glowing skin that bounces right back after softly pinching it, bright eyes, and lots of energy! That's a happy, healthy baby. Give a small glass of 100% fruit juice in the morning, but then stick to water in the cup the rest of the day. She doesn't need the extra sugar. Blessings!

as a single mom myself I will share what has worked with me. Cut a bunch of chicken breast on Sunday and put it in ziplock bags or containers. Freeze half. Keep 3 bags for Monday Tues and Wednesday in fridge. Do the same thing with some cooked carrots sweet potatoes peas pasta etc.that way you will have an assortment of pre-chopped precooked foods that are healthy. Microwave oatmeal first thing when u get up. Let it cool and thicken while you get ready. Then fed baby. (not instant kind which is full of sugar) don't waste your money on prepackaged food which is not too healthy. Dont feed her nuts yet she is too young. Dont pay attention to people who are negative. Being a single mom is a lot of work and theycannot understand unless they are single moms as well

Oatmeal is great. One way to make it almost instant in the morning is to soak it overnight. Put 1 cup of oatmeal in a medium sized bowl, cover it with water and pour a little whey in it (about 1 Tbsp), you can pour the liquid from the top of your yogurt onto it - that's whey. This will allow a natural fermentation with good bacteria to partially break it down. In the morning, drain and rinse in a mesh collander and cook it with 1 cup of milk - bring it just under a boil. Add a little maple syrup and it is a quick, delicious, healthy and easy to digest breakfast!

At 15 months, your daughter can eat most anything you eat. Just make sure it is cut up very tiny if it's stuff that requires molar chewing. Otherwise mash or puree the food. I have 3 children, one 4 year old and two 13 month olds and they all eat what we eat. Plenty of fresh veggies and fruit, whole grains, beans, natural grass-fed meats, seafood, farm fresh milk and eggs, etc, etc. They like healthy food and it's no extra work for me to cook "baby" food when preparing family meals. Plus it keeps their tastes and preferences towards our normal foods and not custom baby and toddler foods which become very difficult to wean from later. And it's not addictive like processed foods, so we avoid withdrawal and behavioral issues as well!

The other posters are right that there's no need to worry about a little belly and you are right to be concerned with her eating habits -- all parents should be. Introducing her to a wide range of flavors, consistencies, textures, etc. will help her to develop a taste for all sorts of foods as she grows. Healthy eating habits form at young ages. If she doesn't grow to love veggies now, chances are she will have a tough time loving them later. And if she just gets sweets or carbs, that's all that her body will know. This is an opportunity to give your daughter the gift of life-long healthy eating.

The other posters' suggestions are great! (But don't give a 15 month old uncooked carrots as she probably doesn't have molars yet to chew them up and they could pose a chocking hazard.) If you have time at night, you can make food for the next several days. For example, you could bake a couple of sweet potatoes (or yams) and squashes (my twins love delicata) at the same time and then just heat up for lunch or dinner. Another idea is beans -- black beans, pinto beans, white beans, garbanzo beans. They are generally soft enough for mouths without a full set of teeth, full of nutrients and great practice for little fingers. Plus they are really, really inexpensive when you buy them dry. If you have a crock pot, you can cook them in there overnight and have them ready to heat up at meal time. Frozen veggies are easy and simple. Grab a few and steam 'em up! Whole wheat pastas; cheesy toast (on whole wheat) with avocado; mac & cheese (whole grain is available even in the boxes) with veggies; chili; cheese cubes; garden burgers; tofu cubes (but avoid excessive amounts of soy).

For breakfast, your idea about oatmeal is a good one! You can also do scrambled eggs, pancakes and waffles -- you can add plain (unsweetened) yogurt to the mix to add calcium and protein or you can mix in some of that sweet potato you baked the night before to get another serving of veggies and major antioxidants. Fruit! Lots of fruit -- and there's probably no need to peel the skin off of apples or pears. Good fiber in skins.

I'm a fulltime working parent too with three young kids -- including 16 month old twins. Even with a partner and other childcare help, it is hard to get it all done. Trust yourself and rely on all the resources out there! You can do it!

Check out weelicious.com She has some great ideas for feeding toddlers and the whole family.

Little belly ? A little child is supposed to look that way - are you one of those types obsessed with your child's weight ? It's sad, I see my daughter's friends starving at lunch time (parents don't give their kids a lunch because they want them to look anorexic). This is ridiculous. Unless your child is obese and her health is in danger, then stop obsessing about it. Your thoughts will rub off on her and make her feel insecure with the way she looks. If you want some healthy options - fruit and veggies. Cut up carrots with ranch dip, celery with peanut butter/raisins, of course oatmeal is not only 'o.k.' but extremely healthy. Eggs any style, nuts, yogurt, cheese, all of these things would be great. Cut down on processed foods (deli meat especially higher fat ones like bologna steer clear of - also there are a lot of nitrates and preservatives bad for anyone's health in processed meat). Other good choices, protein bars Kashi makes some good ones.
Just use common sense, read labels, avoid high sugar items (like sugary cereal).
It's one thing to want to feed your kids healthy choices - which you will always want to do - but do not obsess or think anymore about 'a belly' this is just anatomical, all my kids were like that, and now they are not.